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Students invited to enter Holocaust Essay Contest

Published 4:36 p.m. ET Feb. 4, 2015

Natasha Manos, a ninth-grade student at John Paul II Catholic High School, placed first in the high school division of the 2014 HERC annual Holocaust Essay and Art Contests.

Who were the liberators of the Holocaust and what can we learn from them?

This is the prompt the ninth annual Holocaust Essay and Art Contests asks students to answer this year. The prompt coincides with the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps in Europe during the Holocaust. World War II liberators, witnesses to the atrocities of the Holocaust, documented this time in history so that we would not forget.

The Holocaust Education Resource Council (HERC) encourages all students in fourth through 12th grades to enter the contests. In addition to the essay and art contests, HERC provides education programs and curricula for teachers, students and the community. These programs include teacher training and consultations, online resources, public programs, and speaker presentations from Holocaust survivors, witnesses, liberators and children of survivors.

“I have learned so much from the Holocaust Essay and Art Contest, partly because of all of the research I did for the artwork that I submitted,” said Iyshwary Vigneswaran, a seventh-grade student at Florida State University Schools and 2013 elementary school second place Holocaust Art Contest winner. “Even after that, I was intrigued by the history of the Holocaust, so I never stopped learning about the Holocaust. I still am!”

In 1994, the Florida Legislature passed the Holocaust Education Bill, requiring lessons on the Holocaust as part of public school education. The Holocaust Essay and Art Contests allow students to research Holocaust history and share what they have learned about tolerance and respect for others to ensure events like the Holocaust will not happen again.

“As a teacher, I see the role of Holocaust education as the opportunity to, hopefully, bring attention to the plight of human rights in our time, as well as the past,” said Eileen Lerner, Iyshwary’s teacher at Florida State University Schools whose students enter the Holocaust Essay and Art Contests every year. “It is important to embrace diversity, yet value the similarities amongst all people.”

Observed on Jan. 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day was was designated by the United Nations. Encouraging students in grades four through 12 to enter the annual Holocaust Essay and Art Contest is a great way to ensure the next generation remembers the lives lost during the Holocaust, the liberators, and the unsung heroes who saved lives.

“As we witness acts of anti-Semitism throughout the world, we are comforted by the thoughtful writing of the students who participate in the essay contest,” said Bob Cohen, director and chief judge at Florida Division of Administrative Hearings, and a Holocaust Essay Contest judge since 2007. “When you add in the participation and encouragement given by so many local educators to the efforts of their students, we can be assured the legacy of those who perished in the Holocaust is in good hands for future generations.”

The prompt and submission guidelines can be found online at www.holocaustresources.org. Entries are accepted online with a deadline of March 27, 2015. Student art must be dropped off at LeMoyne Center for Visual Arts on 125 N. Gadsden St., Tallahassee, Fla. 32301. For more information or to volunteer as a judge, contact the Essay Contest Chair Robyn Rachin at 559-3223 or at robyn@holocaustresources.org.

First, second and third place essay and art contest winners at the high school, middle school and elementary school levels will each receive a monetary prize. High school prizes are as follows: first place $500, second place $300 and third place $200. Middle school prizes are as follows: first place $150, second place $100 and third place $75. Elementary school prizes are as follows: first place $75, second place $50 and third place $25.

“Our students are the leaders of tomorrow,” Lerner said, “and it is our obligation to equip them with the foundation and skills to enable them to get along with others and create a better future.”